Commencement set for May 17
New Hampton High School Principal Sarah Updegraff said she’s faced some excruciating decisions as a school administrator, but she never expected picking a commencement date to be one of the toughest in her career.
In a letter sent to seniors, juniors and their parents last week, Updegraff informed students that commencement would remain on May 17 and that prom, which was originally set for this Saturday before being postponed, was being canceled because of the Coronavirus COVID-19 crisis.
“We knew when we did this, made a decision on commencement” Updegraff said, “we weren’t going to make everyone happy. For me, it came down to I’ve got kids leaving for the military, maybe leaving for college early, and I just don’t want to shut the doors on them. This is a rite of passage, and even though it’s going to look different, all of our seniors deserve this.”
For more on this story see the April 28 Tribune.